Chapter 69: Chapter 69: A warm dinner is earned after many days of toil. The food has no frogs in it.

The five of them sit at the booth, eating dinner together. Hineni and Obscura sit on their bench and Rhine, Sockel ‘sit’ on the other bench, but essentially they're just fighting with each other over space. Eilig is sitting on the table.

 

Dinner is some of the food that was cooked in excess and had never left the kitchen this afternoon. It’s not bad, actually. It’s a sort of greasy, thick, brown stew full of meat and tubers and loafs of crispy bread from the baking family down the street. Perfect food for the stormy, miserable weather outside. Thunder crashes and rain rattles down against the tall windows of the guild. It's weather meant for the frogs.

 

Rhine and Sockel are currently taking turns elbowing each other in a contest of who can take it the longest. Given her height and much sharper elbows, Hineni can’t help but feel that Sockel is at an advantage here. But Rhine is toughing it out pretty well and doing his best.

 

“So…” says Eilig. “When are you going to man up and get some revenge?” asks the fairy.

 

“Revenge on who?” asks Hineni, feeling that he is the one being spoken to.

 

“- On the people who kidnapped you? Twice?” asks the fairy.

 

Hineni breaks off a piece of his bread, dipping it into his stew. “Third time’s the charm.”

 

“Who~” hoots Obscura in approval.

 

The fairy blinks. Rhine had used some of his money to buy her a small series of doll-sized utensils and a few bowls and plates, so that she can eat with them. Hineni imagines that it must have been pretty expensive, given how finicky it must have been to make something so small, yet still usable. Rhine's a good guy.

 

“Huh? What?” asks the fairy. “Are you stupid? If you don’t do something, they’re just going to try it again, dummy!”

 

Hineni nods. “We’re taking measures, right, Sockel?”

 

The elf nods, lowering her guard for a moment. “Sure a- ow!” She hisses, rubbing her side as she glares at Rhine, who is smiling a smug smile.

 

“That’s what you get for lowering your guard -”

 

“- Around Rhine the river-wizard, yada yada,” remarks Sockel, rolling her eyes. “You know that girls won’t think that’s cool, right?” she asks, sliding her dessert cookie over his way. A deal is a deal, after all.

 

Rhine takes it, brushing a strand of long, blue hair out of his face without a care in the world. “I’m not interested in girls. I’m a man,” says Rhine, looking as stoic as ever. “I’m interested in women.”

 

“Yuck,” replies Sockel. “At least you have your confidence.”

 

“Boy. You better be interested in your work,” says Hineni. “You can think about women in a couple of years.”

 

Obscura lifts a talon, pointing at Rhine. “Do not listen to the sock-elf. The river-boy will make a fine brood mate for a female of the species, when he is of time.”

 

“That’s a really weird way to phrase it,” says Sockel.

 

Obscura shakes her head. “Wandering the world alone in shadows has made the sock-elf a bitter creature. Obscura’s bountiful heart mourns for her soul-darkness.”

 

“…Huh?” asks Sockel.

 

“- Anyways,” says Hineni, cutting them off. “What’s the status on Avarice?”

 

Sockel stares for a moment and then sighs. “Well I sent him a letter and he immediately sent us a bill for ‘consulting services’, so I assume he at least read it.”

 

“He charged us, because we sent him a letter…?” asks Hineni.

 

“Oh, I’m sure there are going to be plenty more charges soon,” says Sockel. “What a miser.”

 

Hineni nods, pleased enough despite this, as he continues to eat his dinner. “It was fine for us to play defensive when the frogs were going soft,” explains Hineni, looking at Eilig. “But they’ve ramped things up now and so will we.”

 

“So you’re actually going to do something about it?” asks Eilig.

 

“Yes. But we’re not playing by their rules,” says Hineni. “We’re playing by ours.” He nods. “Let me know when Avarice gets back to us.”

 

Sockel nods, looking down at her plate.

 

“Here,” says Rhine, handing her half of the cookie back.

 

She narrows her eyes, taking it. “You know that showing weakness will get you taken advantage of, right?” she asks.

 

“Sure, that’s how you lost your cookie to begin with,” says Rhine. “So what’s life like in the cellar?” he asks, looking at Eilig.

 

“What’s life like?!” she snaps, turning his way. “I’ll tell you what my life’s like!”

 

The table is quiet as everyone continues to eat.

 

“ - ...It’s actually fine. I guess,” finishes Eilig, looking back down at her food and mumbling.

 

Sockel lifts an eyebrow. “I was expecting something more dramatic, honestly.”

 

“My new house has insulation. So it’s quieter than before,” replies the fairy. “Otherwise I just go to the library instead.”

 

“Oh, yeah,” says Sockel. “Should we uh, should we invite Seltsam to dinner?” asks the elf.

 

“The librarian?” asks Rhine. “Why just her and not Kleidet, Lutz or Leicht or Irit?”

 

“Uh? Duh?” says Sockel. “Because they don’t live here?” she asks, knocking on his head.

 

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“…Seltsam lives here?” asks Rhine, blinking.

 

Hineni sits upright. “I forgot to mention it,” he says. “She’s been staying in the library.”

 

“Huh…” says Rhine. “Like… she sleeps there and everything?”

 

Hineni shrugs. “I suppose so.”

 

“Where does she keep her stuff?” asks Rhine, rubbing his head. “And how does she eat and do anything without us ever seeing her?”

 

“Some people are just great at not being seen,” says Sockel. “You’d be surprised at how good you can get at hiding and moving in plain sight.” She shakes her head. “She’s a master at it.”

 

“Little mice know to scamper only in the shadows, through their heart-knowledge alone,” says Obscura, tapping her chest. "It must not be learned through books."

 

Thunder cracks outside, rattling the windows.

 

The front-door opens and a group wanders inside, drenched to the bone. “What a day,” says a man in squeaking, wet leather, walking inside with his arms outstretched. Apparently, his soggy armor had been chafing him.

 

“- The worst…” sighs a just as soggy sorceress, walking in after him.

 

“There was certainly room for improvement,” adds the third member of their group. Some kind of fighter.

 

Hineni looks down at his food and then at them. The kitchen’s closed. But they look rough.

 

“You folks hungry?” he asks, leaning over. “We still have some stew left.”

 

The three of them look at each other, before the man in leather awkwardly waves. “Ah, thank you,” he says, waving his hands. “But we only rented the room without any add-ons.”

 

“Sorry, we’re making the floor all wet,” says the sorceress.

 

Hineni shakes his head, getting up. “It’s on the house, this time,” he says.

 

“Well, in that case…” says the fighter, getting nudged by the sorceress. They don’t seem to let themselves be stopped, however. “We would like that, thank you.”

 

He nods. “I’ll get you folks some ready. Go on up and dry off first, if you’d like.”

 

The three of them walk by, awkwardly waddling like soaked birds as their fabric and armor clings to their skin. They leave a trail of wet and dirt all the way through as they walk to their room.

 

“I guess we gotta wipe the floors again,” says Sockel. “And by ‘we’, I mean you,” she says, looking at Rhine.

 

“Aww, but I have to help in the forge after dinner,” says Rhine. “We still have to make a bunch of spears tonight.”

 

“I’ll help,” says Eilig, her wings buzzing.

 

“You?” asks Sockel in surprise. The fairy shrugs, returning to her meal. Sockel sighs, leaning back on the bench. “I guess I’ll help too.”

 

“So will magnanimous Obscura,” says the owl-god.

 

Hineni nods, happy that everyone is coming together like this. He reheats the pot of stew and refires some bread and sets the spots for the three strangers at a booth.

 

---

 

Fire roars with a drake’s hiss as the forge, not having been extinguished fully for the day, is reborn anew after Rhine had refueled it with ample amounts of charcoal and fresh air from the bellows.

 

“So, remember your staff?” asks Hineni.

 

“Remember it?” asks Rhine. “I swing it around every day!” he says. “I really want to go into the dungeon and try it out sometime,” says Rhine. “But there just hasn’t been time yet.”

 

“Sorry, Rhine,” says Hineni. “We’ll squeeze in a day off for you soon, I promise.”

 

“That’s okay,” says Rhine. “Anyway, what about it? The staff?”

 

“Oh, right,” says Hineni. “We’ll be rolling out the poles for the spear just like you did for your staff. You remember the technique?” he asks. Rhine nods. “Good. You’re in charge of that,” he says. “I’ll make the rest of the blades.”

 

“Sure thing!” says Rhine and the two of them set to their task of making several sterling-silver spears before they call it a day.

 

Rhine rolls the poles for the spears out of a blend of aluminum and steel. Wooden poles would be typical for these kinds of simple weapons, but Hineni would prefer to use as much metal as possible for the design. He’s had enough of wood-working for a while, despite remembering how it works.

 

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